when you had your first dc, did you imagine you would end up with a large family?

[fairylights]

i am just curious as i have always imagined myself with a large brood but just have the one ds who is 16 mo and can't quite imagine how i would cope with 4 x him or more! When you started your families did you set out to have lots? Just wondering whether you felt similar anxieties but did it anyway??! TIA

[WendyWeber]

God no.

When I had no kids I used to say I wanted lots.

Then when I had DC1 I thought OMG!!!!!! And after DC2 arrived all the kit got sold.

And then we had 1 more...and then another...and then we stopped!

[morethanmum]

No. Thought I'd be married to a lawyer at 30, with two adorable girls. (My dream at 16). Now on 2nd dh, (first not so'd') with 4 kids, and no, I haven't achiened a stunning career as a writer. No, he isn't a lawyer either. Still happy tho!

[pedilia]

no I swore i was not going to have anymore (but then I was with XP who is a total twat) but then met DH and along came 2 then 3 and now awaiting number 4!!

[TheDuchessOfNorksBride]

I always liked the idea of having 4 children but DH and I decided we'd have 2. But I was so broody from the minute that no. 2 was born (and DH loves having a pregnant wife ) that we quickly had a 3rd. And now we're having a 4th. But it's definitely the last one.

My eldest is 6 btw so we did get cracking!

[suedonim]

I didn't imagine having even one child as I'd sworn I wasn't having any so four was completely off my radar. It was when I had ds2 that I never imagined in a million years I'd have any more. I didn't know anyone with more than two so the idea didn't really cross my mind.

[suedonim]

Although at some stage dh and I talked about having six, so I've been through the spectrum wrt to family size, hehe.

[heronsfly]

yes, I always wanted a big family,I thank god every day that I have each and every one of them, I never lost the broody feeling untill after dc6 was born then I think my mind and body [I was 43] told me that enough was enough, still waiting for grandchildren though.

[piximon]

I always had it in mind I'd have 6 children. Hadn't counted on such a small age gap between them though. Eldest turned 5 last month and baby number 5 was due yesterday .

[PaulaYatesBiggestFan]

wendy you and i sound similar

always said i wanted loads

had ds1 thought no one could ever match him

considered stopping - never have

[snorris]

Before I had any children I thought I'd like 3. After dd1 was born I was so traumatised , I decided one was enough . However the old biological clock took over and we decided that maybe it would be good to have another dc. Ha,ha,just my luck-twins . A couple of years later along came dd4-not exactly planned,can't imagine how that happened [innocent].

[aGalChangedHerName]

DH and were never having any children.

Had my tonsils out and had shed loads of ab's to get rid of massive infection,loads of sex later and ds1 happened

Always wanted one more so had ds2. I secretly wanted more but DH didn't really want to. So i learned to drive and moved to a bigger house hoping he'd change his mind.

Saw a clairvoyant who said he saw me with a new baby(claptrap most likely i know) came home afterwards pissed and told Dh who said ok lets have another one. So we did and dd1 came along. Big age gap between the boys and dd1 so of course had to have a sibling for dd1 and now we have dd2 too!!

If DH hadn't had the snip i would def be pg again right now.

[ggglmpp]

agalchanged - are you agalch?

[ggglmpp]

In response to the question - was always going to just have two boys called Daniel and Thomas.

People still keep asking me if I am going to have another one!

[aGalChangedHerName]

Hello ggg,yes i am agalch. Hope you manage to get a hold of your friend over the weekend.

Wendyweber is such a good detective lol

[fairylights]

well if i follow in the steps of some of you lot i will certainly be herding a flock of little people around in a few years! Its a lovely thought actually...

[bubblepop]

when i had my first, I never even thought about having any more children...it was dh's idea to have another..I was'nt even broody! After the first 2 he said no more and I was dissappointed as I always thought I might have 3. I left it and resigned myself to no more children. a few years later again, it was dh who suggested we just have one more! ofcourse i was delighted...little did i know that i would conceive no4 very shortly after that-she was unplanned but turned out to be the best surprise anyone in the world could ever wish for!

[bogwobbit]

Hell no, I didn't intend to have any.
Or maybe one very well behaved dc.
Don't quite know what happened

[ladytophamhatt]

No way.

Not in a million billion trillion years did I ever think I;d have 4 children.

[ChristinePlushPants]

I always wanted kids, wasn't sure how many, had a notion that twins would be nice, then had dd1 and was eternally grateful she wasn't twins! I recall after dd1 was born I was at a postnatal group talking about how many kids we all wanted, some wanted to stop, I knew I wanted more, probably 3 in total. As for how you cope, that worried me too, but it wasn't so bad, we had 20mths between first and second, and the baby thing is considerably easier second time around, because you've done it all before, some things will be different because the babies are all different, but essential stuff like how to breastfeed, change a nappy, burp them, and the confidence to leave them to whinge long enough for you to get dressed - all that will make the baby part much easier. I found a small gap was useful as I quickly got baby into a routine of napping at the same time as toddler, so we all 3 of us had a rest! No such luck when we had dd3 (age gap of 19mths after dd2), as eldest (then 3yr4mth) was no longer napping, so that was a bit more tiring. Again I wondered how I would cope but it was like when I had dd2, except now I had a 3 year old who was very keen to be like mummy and help mummy. Also the older two played with eachother while I sorted out the baby, so in many ways having the third was easier than having the second.

As for the fourth, well she kind of fitted in around all the existing chaos! She came along when dd1 was 5.5yrs and was on the school run at about 8 days old (and we were there on time, the whole tribe - very impressive given that I could barely get myself dressed before midday at that stage with dd1!).

So here I am with 4 girls, and one husband with the snip!

[waggledancer]

I was totally ready to stop at 2. But then marriage ended, followed by 2 years of limited hedonism, culminating in marriage number 2. So 2 more dc's followed. Am happy with 4 but if age wasn't against me would have had more.

[suedonim]

My nephew and his dw have four dc. When their twins were born they had four under 4yo! It took me 21yrs to get to four children.

[yeahinaminute]

Well - Having had 2 stillborns - Our darling Cátriona at 42 weeks and little Andrew at 25 weeks then a "missed " miscarriage at 14 weeks we finally had our lovely daughter Róisín ..Unfortunately another miscarriage after her ....

I just wish I could have all of them here.

But I don't

And I always imagined I would have had a brood ... but God or Fate decided I wouldn't . So i just enjoy what I have been blessed with and live a happy and good life.

[Peachy]

Always said we'd have 4, did reconsider for a while after ds3 was starting to show his SN (ds1 already registered disabled) but decided sod it, not allowing lives to be controlled by something as outside our control as ASD.

This definitely last, I could go on forever baby wise but I get too grumpy when pregnant LOL, and don't want to be like Nan who did keep going- until she was knackered, bed ridden, and her eldest daughter ahd to raise the brood of 16.

[fairylights]

yeahinaminute - so sorry that you do not have all of yours with you, am very glad you have a happy and good life now and that you have Roisin.
suedonim - somehow it reassures me to know that it took you 21 years to have all your kids! Although if i did that now i would be heading for 50 when i had my last so unlikely..! But i don't feel in a mad rush to have little gaps, and i am also studying for a demanding course which doesn't help... but maybe we should seriously start thinking about no 2 sometime soon....
hmmm